a. Technical Field
Drawn to a liquid/vapor ion power plant.
b. Description of The Prior Art
Currently there are very few useful applications of ions to generate thrust. Current methods produce very low thrust. The Phillips '361 patent uses ions to generate a rotating shaft with a turbine. The present invention eliminates the turbine and associated structure and uses the pure thrust generated by the ions to propel the engine. This reduces the mechanical loss inherent in transferring the thrust to the turbine and provides a superior method of propulsion for airborne, waterborne, or space traveling craft. The improved product significantly improves upon the existing state of the art and advances the use of ions to produce an engine to a practical, economical reality.
In addition to improving the ion to a propulsion engine, the present invention utilizes a very highly reactive vapor such as P4O6 which is much easier to polarize than mercury vapor when in the influence of an electric field, cost less, and has fewer environmental hazards. Sodium, zinc, and calcium based compounds are also effective. With a different construction for the polarization electrode, a different construction for the power electrode, a different ion discharge chamber configuration, and the addition of a negative electrode to establish the electric field that separates the ions, the present invention is superior to the Phillips '361 patent in virtually every way.
The engine can generate enough power to lift an airplane or spacecraft off the earth's surface and propel it in any direction. As no external oxygen is necessary for the operation of this engine, it can operate outside the atmosphere for spacecraft in space.